


What Love Was

by becameapasttime (mitslits)



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pure Unadulterated Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 10:30:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10554830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mitslits/pseuds/becameapasttime
Summary: Percival Graves realizes he's in love with Credence Barebone.





	

Percival Graves never expected to fall in love. In a way, he never actually fell. He walked into it step by step without even realizing it was where he was headed.

The first time he noticed, it was an utterly unremarkable night. It had started snowing earlier that evening, so Graves had finally caved and struck up a fire. They’d both gathered in the living room to enjoy the warmth, Graves sat at one end of the sofa, Credence at the other.

Credence had his nose buried in some book or another, and Graves was skimming through one of his own.

Graves glanced up as a log fractured in the fireplace. That was his undoing. He looked at Credence, outlined by firelight, grown-out hair just starting to curl at the edges, and felt something shift.

From then on, things were never quite the same.

‘Love is blind’ was the popular mantra, but it was only after Graves realized he was in love that he felt he could truly see.

How had he not noticed before how soft Credence looked, how handsome those liquid brown eyes were? How many times had he seen those lips without wondering what it would be like to kiss them? How long had he been in love with him and just not noticed? 

Knowing was the most exquisite torture he could imagine. He ascribed meaning to every look, every smile, every lingering touch of Credence’s skin on his, wanting it to be more than it was. The worst part was he couldn’t bring himself to care. 

Credence’s smile didn’t have to be for him, it just had to be  _ there _ . Graves didn’t have to be the one to make him laugh, but he savored every peal that rang out. The brush of their fingers as they passed each other books, plates, clothes didn’t have to be intentional, Graves could still feel the heat. 

If Credence knew, Graves wondered, would he still want to live with him? 

The answer, as it turned out, was yes. 

Graves’ confession came spilling out over breakfast one morning, and Credence paused with a forkful of eggs partway to his mouth. For a moment, all was silence. In that moment, Graves hated himself. He’d ruined everything, and for what? A few seconds of shocked surprise while the future he’d dared to imagine shattered before his eyes.

The very last thing Graves had expected was for Credence to make the same confession back. 

Love was never the grand, sweeping gestures Graves had expected when he was a child. It was quiet and unassuming, just like that morning had been. It was Credence brushing his hair out of his eyes and Graves finding magic in the movement. It was the two of them sitting together in silence that spoke volumes. 

  
Graves wouldn’t have given it up for the world. 


End file.
